Britain: A Nation of Naked Sleepers

We put out a sleep survey recently, and here are the eye-opening results.

Furniture Choice survey reveals that one in four sleep in the nude. When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, do you cosy up in pyjamas or embrace your more natural side?

One in four sleep nude

According to our research, nearly a quarter of UK and Irish adults (23%) sleep au natural, with men more likely to go to bed wearing nothing than women (27% vs. 20%).

What's more, we found that those in the 55-64-year-old age bracket are twice as likely to sleep naked as those aged 18-24 (13%) with 29% opting to go clothes-less!

Regionally, those in the Republic of Ireland are most likely to don a pair of pyjamas (53%), whereas those in Northern England are more likely to snooze nude. But, how does the entire UK compare?

Percentage of those who sleep naked

14.3%Northern Ireland

16.7%Republic of Ireland

21.7%South East England

22%Central England

22.9%South West England

23%Northern England

24.8%Scotland

25%Wales

In terms of cities, those in Newcastle and Nottingham have the highest proportion of naked sleepers (both at 30%) whereas Londoners are least likely to sleep sans clothes, with just 21% admitting to sleeping in the buff.

Room to stretch

We also looked a little into the type of beds that people are sleeping on - be that clothed or not! While double beds were unsurprisingly the most popular choice, a quarter of UK and Irish adults had opted for a rather more spacious King size bed (25%).

It seems, though, that this is a luxury that comes with age, as those aged 45-54 were much more likely to sleep like a king than those aged 18-24 - these were more likely to be in a single bed than any other age group.

Sleeping pretty

When it comes to our judgement on whether we generally get a good night's sleep, the split is 60% vs. 40%, in favour of yes. Though that's great news for the majority of the UK and Irish population, there are still many that could use a little help when it comes to sleep!

The research shows a general trend, with the younger generations feeling that they get a much better night's sleep than those in the middle to older generations. The breakdown of those that get a good night's sleep (by age) is as follows:

71.7%18-24 years

77.9%25-34 years

68.7%35-44 years

52.2%45-54 years

49.1%55-64 years

56.1%65+ years

This is similarly echoed by the amount of sleep we get; although 26.7% of us are getting seven hours of snooze in a night, nearly one in four (24%) only manage six hours, and 12.9% get just five hours.

Though our sleeping habits can always be improved, it's good to see that so many of us are comfortable enough in our own beds - whatever size they may be - to really relax while feeling secure and uninhibited. If that's not an important point to make this National Bed Month, we don't know what is!